Luveve Road rehab to take longer than 90 days

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Reporter

BULAWAYO City Council (BCC) will soon resume rehabilitating a section of Luveve Road after the local authority was forced to suspend works due to the wet weather.

In January, the BCC embarked on a three-month rehabilitation of some sections of the road that was now impassable due to potholes.
The rehabilitation works were supposed to be done within 90 days, but due to incessant rains, the project will take longer.
BCC is on record saying that 70 percent of its road network has outlived its lifespan. The authority requires about US$700 million to fix the roads.

Work on the road comprises pothole patching, pavement construction, overlays, reinstating of carriageway markings, drainage and other general maintenance work.
The local authority said it needs at least US$9 million to completely overhaul the entire stretch of the 9,2km Luveve Road.
BCC identified the areas between Waverley Street and Intemba Drive in Old Luveve and set aside US$1,2 million from its internal revenue streams for the project.

In an interview the acting city director of engineering services, Engineer Sikhumbuzo Ncube said due to wet conditions, the local authority has temporarily stopped work.
“It’s a matter of paying due diligence to resource usage, working during and under wet conditions would have just been a waste of scarce resources. Once conditions are conducive, our teams will return to the site and continue from where we left,” he said.

“Since we have already lost some days, the envisaged 90 days to complete the works is no longer possible to meet.”
Eng Ncube noted that some kombi drivers were already using the incomplete road, particularly during peak hours in the morning and evening.

“It’s a matter of concern that some public transporters are ignoring clearly marked signs and driving on an unfinished road. We need to make sure that this is stopped forthwith,” he said.

Luveve Road is one of the priority roads that council intends to rehabilitate. Others include Khami, Steelworks, Matopos and Wellington roads.
Government, through the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) disbursed $93 billion to the four road authorities, which include the Department of Roads, Rural Infrastructural Development Agency (Rida), and urban and rural district councils.

Last month council resolved to pull out of the Government’s Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme Phase 2 (ERRP2) and also threatened to approach the courts with the hope of securing a court order barring the Central Government from taking a lead role in the implementation of the programme in Bulawayo.
BCC also queried the criteria used by Zinara in the disbursement of funds, and also sought to recover outstanding amounts from previous allocations through litigation.

The councillors accused Zinara of delaying in fund disbursements and lacking transparency.
However, in a dramatic climbdown following advice from council management, councillors have since abandoned their plans for a legal action.
BCC chamber secretary Mrs Sikhangele Zhou said the misconception was that councillors assumed that the ERRP2 was being funded through Zinara allocations yet the money comes directly from the Treasury.
Bulawayo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Secretary, Mr Paul Nyoni recently took a swipe at council for claiming that ERRP2 has not been helpful in rehabilitating the roads in the city.

He said it was the poor contract handling management by council that resulted in some contractors either doing a shoddy job or failing to meet their deadlines.
Under the ERRP2, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development is working with local authorities as the implementing agent in carrying out road works.
In Bulawayo, 65 major roads were named for rehabilitation including Siyepambili Drive, Fife Street, sections of Cecil Avenue and Khami Road, George Avenue and 23rd Avenue. The roads are now smooth for drivers after they were rehabilitated in 2021.

Cecil Avenue has been earmarked for rehabilitation from Bulawayo-Harare Highway to Hillside Road stretching 6,5km.
Surveys are underway to pave way for work that will start in due course on the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls Road stretching from Masotsha Ndlovu Avenue to Glenville Drive, Lady Stanley Avenue; rehabilitation of a 5km stretch of the Bulawayo-Gwanda Road from Ascot to Puma Service Station.
While the Government will be rehabilitating major roads that connect Bulawayo with other cities, BCC is also expected to reconstruct some of its major roads.

Cabinet in 2021 declared the country’s road network a state of disaster as most of the roads have become impassable due to aging and damage by heavy rains.
Government has since mandated the Department of Roads to take over 500km of roads from urban councils.

Under the Infrastructure, Utilities, and Digital Economy cluster, Zimbabwe’s economic blueprint, the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) prioritises the completion of road rehabilitation projects.
The main aspirations of NDS1 include infrastructural development as a key enabler in attaining Vision 2030 of having an upper middle-income economy. –@skhumoyo2000.